The plans included a small-scale biomass plant, which would have generated 2.5 mega watts of electricity an hour for export to the National Grid, using 30,000 tonnes of imported waste wood per year.

But on Tuesday (January 21) a spokesman for the Planning Inspectorate confirmed that the appeal, due to take place in March, had been withdrawn by SAS Waste.

The application included building a fuel handling and storage building, a power generation building with a 24.5-metre stack and 10 parking spaces.

He added that campaign group Surrey Environmental Guardians, whose members were against the application, had maintained contact with the applicant and pledged to work proactively with it to try to find a suitable non-industrial use for this site that would be of lasting benefit to the community.

A meeting was held last Tuesday by the No Elmbridge Waste Incinerator Group (NEWIG), another campaign group against the application, at Silvermere Golf Club to discuss its plans to fight the application.

Nature reserve

Those attending the meeting heard that the discovery of a badger sett on the site could be the most significant development in the fight against the appeal.

Member Kirsten Johnson said: “We are delighted that constant pressure from thousands of residents has paid off.”

Along with campaigners from both groups and councillors, she thanked the ‘Badgers of Depot 46’ and suggested to the owner of the site that "an amazing reserve for badgers and other local wildlife" could be created on the land.

“Biomass is destroying habitats around the globe,” she said. “This is an honest, and genuine offer. You could become a local hero.”

Ben Ruddock, of Surrey Environmental Guardians, said it was set up in 2009 after plans were first submitted for an incinerator on the site.

He said: “Surrey County Council’s single ground for refusal was incompatibility with the green belt but we felt there were many other issues that collectively added considerable weight to the argument for rejection.”

In a statement, SAS Waste said that after "long and considered discussions" with stakeholders including both campaign groups, and "by way of mutual agreement", it had decided to withdraw the appeal.

The statement added: “Notwithstanding this, it is considered that this site does require a long-term development solution, given that it has lain derelict for decades – predominantly covered in concrete after use in wartime industrial activity.

“The landowners now propose to pursue a new use for the site and it is hoped with the backing and support of local residents.”